By Tooth and Claw
by Silvertoris
Summary: We have all heard the stories about the great Charlie Weasley and how he enamored all of Hogwarts during his time there, but how come he is still single? And who is the Ravenclaw princess who he has a tendency of getting into duels over?
1. Chapter 1

I OWN NOTHING

Chapter one

Charlie Weasley, top seeker, reigning Gryffindor bad boy, animal lover and Casanova was easily leaning back into the worn leather seats of the Hogwarts express; theatrically yawning as he stretched himself further out on the seat forcing the couple sitting next to him closer to each other.

Sophie Watts, top student, Ravenclaws own beauty queen, caregiver and one half of Hogwarts most favorite lovebirds, was running down the train corridor in tears, dark brown hair floating behind her as she hiccuped from her lack of breathing.

Charlie, spread out over three quarters of the seat was smirking at the female sending him furious glances whenever he forced her closer to his best friend. Xander was, however, smiling brightly whenever she was forced closer to him and, according to him, devastating charms. Charlie closed his eyes enjoying the awkward conversation between the soon-to-be lovebirds. Sure, some would consider it weird that he was trying to hook up his best friend with one of his long-time exes but considering his history at Hogwarts it was hard for his friends to find any girl that wasn't his ex. He smirked at the thought and winced as someone kicked his leg. Opening one eye he caught Xander's look and, after one more long stretch, stood up and walked out of the compartment sending a smirk over his shoulder at Rebecca.

Sophie was sitting down outside a compartment, still crying but having lost the more hysterical edge, now just letting her tears roll down her currently red and blotchy face. After four and a half years her long-time boyfriend and, what she had considered him being: Soulmate, had dumped her rather abruptly - and unfortunately - publicly. His friends laughter and the dumb face he'd made while telling her that "Can't get caught with a bitch like you fr the rest of my life, plus, your status isn't really what anyone will be looking for." Hell, she would have felt better if he had just called her a mudblood to her face.

Charlie, now standing outside the compartment and grimacing at the sounds coming from said compartment. It truly was time for himself to find a playmate, preferably a fangirling sixth year with no demands of marriage in the end of the year. Oh, woe the seventh year males, it was hard finding any girl that didn't have any kind of plans or dreams about being a housewife- someone that could live a lush life without even having to care about working a day of their life.

Looking left and then right considering his options, either go onto Hufflepuff territory or continue down in to the deep red of Gryffindor. He smiled to himself as he turned left, thinking of the Tonks girl; she had promised him a _private_ chat at the end of last year, a promise he intended for her to keep.

Sophie knew that it had been a bad idea to cry on Hufflepuff territory, it was probably worse than being on Gryffindor ground - those bumbling dunderheads would at least leave her be- unlike the retarded Hufflepuffs and their stupid feelings. Whereas the Ravenclaws would give their own sharp logic and clarity on problems to console them the puff's used heartfelt confessions and clichés- which was how Sophie found herself sitting in a compartment with the majority of the seventh year Hufflepuff girls, her mouth filled with chocolate and head being patted by a mousey girl also called Louise.

"Oh sweet Sophie, we're so sorry. I always thought the two of you would be the ones staying together, it was such a brilliant union you know… A muggleborn and one of the pureblood princes… It was so sweet."

Tonks, the only halfblooded of the bunch was sitting opposite to Sophie, making annoyed faces at Louises talking and occasionally changing her nose to a pig snout making Sophie cringe. She really didn't mind the other witch but that snout always made her slightly uneasy, who would ever want to use that as their most significant feature? But the other witch was the only one with a tad of dignified pity towards her and she wouldn't just ignore it.

"Uhm, thank you Louise, Sarah, Tonks. Lovely of you taking me in for a while. I should probably go back to my compartment though, I'm sure Liss is waiting for me. And Claire. Yup, probably worried and stuff." A quick smile while standing up and as she opened the door towards the corridor hard voices streamed towards her.

Charlie loved being a Gryffindor, he loved being supported by his housemates and being loved by the other houses- excluding Slytherin of course. He loved the feeling of being a part of something far bigger than just himself and his house- he was a part of the school. While strolling down the train corridor and striking up conversations with the youngsters passing him he was considering how he would get Tonks to leave the compartment without her friends, the puff's were known for staying in their small packs and rarely leaving anyone by themselves. An admirable trait to say the least, except for the moment he really just wanted to get her by her own and, well, maybe find an empty compartment for the two of them to share. It was getting a bit chilly after all.

When he passed the doors into the Hufflepuff carriages he was met by a quite unwelcome sight, the Slytherin prince, also called Mark Greengrass was strolling towards him- sneering at anyone looking at him. Charlie straightened his back and felt his eyes narrow, that wanker really was getting on his nerves.

"Oi, Greengrass. What are you doing in this part of the carriage? Ya know your kind isn't welcome here." Puffing out his chest while walking towards the other seventh year while feeling the support coming from all angles as the Hufflepuff boys left their compartments to join him in his stand-off with the Slytherins.

Smirking, the trio of seventh years continued walking down the corridor popping their heads into each and every compartment on their way to the lone Gryffindor and his Hufflepuff entourage.

"Oh, if it isn't a little weasel on rodent territory. Did the lions throw you out? Finally saw through that dainty facade of yours and decided to throw you to the, uh, rats?" His lackeys snorted at that as Charlie drew his wand.

"I'd put that down if I was you, Weasley."

"Oh, scared of a duel Greengrass?"

The air filled with harsh words and spells between both clusters of wizards, interrupted only by a compartment door opening and a scream filling the air.

The things Sophie hadn't expected to happen when she stepped out into the train corridor were several, she hadn't expected to find her now ex-boyfriend and the Gryffindor golden boy duelling, she hadn't expected to hear them call each other silly names like "flobberworming Slytherin" and "lame weasel". But mostly she hadn't expected getting hit by a stinging hex that, in its ferociousness turned into a spark that, unfortunately for both boys, turned her hair on fire.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE THE TWO OF YOU DOING." Screaming while trying to extinguish the fire currently destroying her hair didn't stop them until she accidentally elbowed Weasley in his face and kicked Mark's knee so hard that he'd probably have to visit Madam Pomfrey when arriving to the castle. Feeling frazzled and with half of her hair burnt up she turned towards both boys, an ice cold expression on her face.

"Are the two of you really this dumb? I knew about your disabilities Mark however I never thought they'd translate anywhere but in the bedroom." Weasley snorted at that but when she flipped her gaze to her he straightened up. "And you, you stupid ass face of a quidditch player, what in the world made you bring your fucking wand into a silly argument? You really are a tosser aren't you? To think that you were normal for gods sake." It was Marks turn to snicker at her words and Weasley looked annoyed.

"Oi, just because your dating that wanker doesn't mean that he isn't just as guilty Miss Ice Queen so don't get you knickers in a twist." Smirking at her he continued in a more suave tone of voice; "Or, I mean, keep them in a twist. I'm always up for sorting that little problem out with you." Greengrass gaze turned furious, but before he could even open his mouth to rebut what Charlie had said Watts sneered at him disdainfully.

"First of all Weasley, I wouldn't touch you even in your wildest dreams. And second, there is no longer no such thing as me and Mark dating. He made that pretty clear earlier today, didn't you Mark?" Before Greengrass even had a chance to reply she turned on her heel and stormed away towards the Ravenclaw part of the train, leaving both groups of boys staring at each other daftly.

"Well Charlie, you really fucked up this time." Tonks stood in the doorway of the compartment, a pig snout on her face and mirth in her eyes. "You should at least have helped her extinguish her hair you silly tosser." Charlie groaned, he would never live this one down.

"Just shut up Tonks." Her laughter followed him as he hurried after the other girl, leaving the Slytherins standing confused in the middle of the hallway- surrounded by more and more angry Hufflepuffs.

Quickly cutting a corner he saw her disappear into the ladies room and, after having checked that no one was watching him, he followed her inside- locking the door as he got there.

Sophie was standing in front of one of the mirrors, wincing as she tried to comb through her hair with her fingers trying to estimate the damage on her earlier long hair.

"I'm so sorry Watts, didn't intend to like, you know, hit you with that spell. It just kinda happened." He winced as she let a small sob out. "You know, it doesn't look _that_ bad. It's just a bit… modern perhaps? I'm sure you can make a thing out of it! All the girls look up to you, you know!" He winced again as she started sobbing for real, leaning her head on the mirror in front of her while her whole body shook. "Ah. I really am sorry Sophie." Putting an arm around her shoulders made her turn her face towards him instead, making his shirt wet with tears.

"Th-this has been the worst day in my life. Fh-first I find out I'm not woh-worty of being Head Girl, th-then I find out Ih-I'm not worthy of b-being Mark's girlfriend and then you burn off almost all my hair. Am I a bad human being?" Charlie softly patted her back as she cried, feeling extremely guilty. "Ch-cuz it dh-really feels like it rh-right now."

"Nah, you're not. That's probably why the universe decided for Greengrass to drop the only good thing that has ever happened to him. And the Head Girl thing, well, you're already the top student, the most beautiful girl at Hogwarts and you're actually quite likable. When you're not calling me stupid that is." Her hiccups turned into a soft laughter and she turned her face up towards him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm actually one of the smarter people in my family. You should meet my youngest brother, we're all sure he got dropped on the head by everyone in our family." She snorted at that and turned away from him, leaving his arms empty while she went back to the mirror, touching up her face while looking at her hair. "He actually once asked my Mum if chickens actually are dragons because dragons and chickens both lay eggs." She smiled at him through the mirror and Charlie smiled back. He hated making girls sad, especially pretty girls. "And about your hair, don't tell my Mum but I'm actually quite good with a cutting hex, we'll make sure everyone thinks it was intentional. A fresh start and all of that, taking Hogwarts by storm you will."

The Ravenclaws were as usual the last ones to arrive in the get hall, taking responsibility not just for their own youngsters but all of the houses. Sophie Watts and her best friend Lisa Lennox were the two last ones to get seated, both drawing all of the attention away from the first years that started their parade into the great hall. Everyone at the school had heard about the massive break-up, the duel of Sophie Watt's honor (oh how rumors twist things) and on how a certain Charlie Weasley had personally consoled the sad beauty until she smiled again all alone in a locked bathroom- both of them exiting said bathroom looking frazzled and Sophie's hair being almost five inches shorter than earlier that day.

It didn't get better at all when Sophie sent a quick smile over to the Gryffindor table and Charlie pretended to catch it before sending a kiss her way, making a slight blush tinge her cheeks Gryffindor red.

Sooooooo, this is what has been bugging me this past few weeks. Do you like it? Please tell me. I love Harry Potter but always seem to bugger it up. xoxo


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _September 29th_

Sitting alone in the library wasn't something new for Sophie, she was a Ravenclaw after all, but having a bunch of annoying Slytherins hovering around her was not something out of the usual.

"Oh come on Soph, I know you still want it. It's not like you were able to go without it for long earlier." The expression on Mark's face made her nauseated and that together with the hollering his little buddies were making made her want to die.

"Mark, just please leave me alone. You were the one to break it off so please just leave it." He was playing with her hair, tugging it slightly- just as he would have done if they'd been studying together as they'd usually had been before.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before reaching for her wand, only to get interrupted by Mark's earlier so playful hand. Grabbing her wand and forcing her head back so her eyes met his.

"Seriously Soph, you really don't have much choice. Either you'll stay my playmate or we will just have to teach you a little lesson, don't we boys?" He sneered at her and she could actually feel her heart break once again, remembering the soft moments they'd shared, how his eyes were filled with love rather than angry lust. She realized that she was terrified, like a deer in headlights.

"Oi Greengrass! Let her go you wanker or I'll hex you ever uglier than you are right now."

Charlie had had a wonderful start of his last year of Hogwarts. The stories about how he saved a damsel in distress had made him even more popular amongst the ladies and Tonks had easily slipped into his bed on the first evening of school- nose changed from the hilarious pig snout to her usual slightly crooked nose. It had of course been a brilliant night and ever since then his days seemed brighter and his classes a fair bit easier to go through with.

Or would have been if he hadn't ended up in all of the advanced classes this year. He would have expected his OWL score being far too bad, ending up barely getting E's, to even be asked wether or not he wanted to attend the advanced classes- but he'd been hit with a strike of luck and was now eligible to apply for his dream job after Hogwarts.

If he passed of course.

On this beautiful Sunday he'd already been at quidditch practice, catching the snitch after barely ten minutes making Xander yell profanities at him as he hurried away from the pitch. Apparently ending the first practice of the year before the other players had even started had been an awful idea. So, long story short, he was now hurrying up towards the library to finish off both his advanced transfiguration essay _and_ his care of magical creatures essay before lunch. Otherwise he'd be stuck with four essays to do this evening and Lucinda Rodriguez had promised him a long overdue back rub- in private of course.

Walking towards the back corner of the library, after having sent a wink towards the notorious Madam Pince that earned him a blush, he stepped past a few bookshelves before stopping dead on his feet.

Mark Greengrass, towering over Sophie Watts, although Charlie only could hear the last piece of their conversation being Mark's threatening her he made a rushed decision, puling his wand and screaming at the other boy.

Greengrass startled before pointing his own wand at Charlie, letting Sophie go.

"Oh isn't it the ugly weasel? Did your captain finally kick you off the team? Or are you actually trying to read a book weasel? Well, you'd be fine in here I guess. Your kind are quite used to hand-me-downs aren't you?"

Charlie was a pureblooded Gryffindor. All the boys in his family, the girls too to be perfectly honest, were pureblooded Gryffindors. Which probably was why he threw a hex straight in the face on the other boy, making him stumble backwards and hit a shelf making it fall over and alerting Madam Pince to the situation at hand.

"DIRTY CHILDREN RUINING MY LIBRARY. WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Shit. Sophie, quick grab your stuff." The Ravenclaw girl stared at him, gaping, for a split second before grabbing her satchel and wand. Carlie grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the library, leaving the Slytherins with the very much crazy librarian.

Once well away from the library, the couple turned towards each other- both gasping for air.

"Sorry girl, you alright?" Charlie's hair was messy and his face red from their run and Sophie couldn't help herself but to start giggling- making the boy smile too.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Good lord that was a brilliant hex! Who taught you that? His face looked like-like it was turning putrid or something!" Her brown eyes were shining and her teeth flashed as she laughed and Charlie couldn't help himself but to admire her beauty. She was usually quite uptight replying to questions in class and rarely talking to anyone but her ex-boyfriend and her best friend. This was a completely new side of her that he truly enjoyed seeing.

"Ah, to be perfectly honest, no laughing at this!" She was still giggling madly as she supported herself up against the wall next to the grand staircase but as he spoke she tried to keep a straight face before nodding for him to continue. "It was actually my younger brothers who taught me that one, you know, the Gryffindor pranksters?" Her smile fell and she looked slightly annoyed.

"Who doesn't know who they are? They turned my hair orange once and called me a fake Slytherin. I do however think I hit them with a fairly decent bat-bogey hex to make them regret their choice of victim." Charlie started laughing manically at that making Sophie frown:

"That, that was you? Oh Merlin it was brilliant! You know it didn't actually stop before about ten minutes after they had gotten back to the Gryffindor tower. They looked perfectly haunted from that experience, mumbling about girls and hexes for months." Still laughing he flung his arm around her shoulders and started to walk towards the great hall. "Since we probably won't be able to go back to the library for a while, whatcha saying about lunch? I heard the house-elves are preparing some kind of preparation feast before Halloween."

Not able to say no after him saving her from a fairly horrible fate she smiled up to him and nodded before stepping away from his arm.

"Yes, if you're fine sitting with us Ravenclaws. I still have an essay to finish and if I'm not done by twelve o'clock I'll have a billion things to do later this afternoon."

Four hours later and Charlie felt like he had been hit by an angry ogre. Sure, Sophie had helped him finish all of his essays. But to what cost? He was fairly sure neither his brain nor his right hand would ever feel normal again- and Sophie was still going. Sorting through her large stack of essays had barely broken a sweat on her slightly creased forehead and now she was bringing out massive volumes dedicated to healing potions and spells and Charlie just felt like he wanted to die.

"How can you keep going? Aren't your brain as dead as mine?" She raised an eyebrow at the book before writing something down on the new roll of parchment next to her. "Hello? Sophie? You there?" Waving his hand in front of her face earned him a glare and a huff.

"What is it?"

"Are you seriously going to continue studying after four hours of essays? Seriously? What are you?" She shook her head at his antics, before replying in an annoyed voice.

"Well, if you didn't know already I'm a muggleborn, which basically means that I'll have to have perfect scores both on my OWL's, NEWT's and my healer introductory exams. If I had still been dating Mark however, or had your last name, I wouldn't even have to do these stupid exams that I am spending basically all of my time studying for. Do you understand or should I create a thinking chart for you?" All of that flowing out of her mouth rapidly as she continued taking notes on the book laying in front of her.

"Wait, what? Are you serious? That's not right! You're way smarter and better on like everything than all of the kids from the sacred 28 so why is it that you have to do the exams and not them?" His head was swimming with information and just basic tiredness- last night had been a long one after all.

"Charlie, I am muggleborn. My blood is not accepted, what if I am actually just a squib taking some amazing pureblooded waifs place? You know, I might have fooled the whole schooling system." The sarcasm in her voice was not even hidden and Charlie felt stupid, he knew about the structured blood-thinking that was so ingrained into the magical society that no one even thought about it. Or, well, no pureblood ever thought about it.

"Yeah, uh, I'm sorry." She looked up at him, brown eyes meeting blue ones and she gave him a crooked smile.

"Yah, you're fine. I'm just so tired of having to double up my studying to become what I dream of being you know?" Charlie nodded, as if he understood what she meant perfectly- when he in fact did not. As he felt his face redden of the shame he felt about it he rose:

"Ah, I think my brain needs a break. I'll be going outside, you ok with that?" She just waved her hand in his general direction, forehead creased as she wrote down her notes.

Sophie knew she shouldn't be annoyed with him, but everything would have been so simple if she was a pureblood- or just if she still and been Mark's girlfriend. No extra exams, no scary threats and most specifically: No broken heart.

The parchment in front of her was suddenly starting to get wet, large blotches of water hitting it repeatedly. She looked up, expecting to find it raining outside but ending up with realizing that it was still a beautifully sunny day, not a cloud on the sky.

"Oh Chaaarlie! I've been looking for you all day, Xander told me you left your practice early to study but then you just completely disappeared!" Lucinda Rodriguez was standing in front of him, pouting while batting her eyelashes at him and he couldn't help but smile at her as he stepped around her. "I promised you a back rub earlier, and I always keep my word." She was practically purring but somehow Charlie couldn't relax, it was as if something was keeping him in a small bubble of thinking of social issues and why the Ministry of Magic should, quite honestly, do something about it.

"Yeah Lucy, I'm just a bit tired ya know? Kinda wanna go to bed. Alone." Adding the last part was necessary since she was already starting to walk towards his dorm. "But I'll definitely grab a rain check from you, you know I love those hands of yours." He winked at her which changed her face from obvious disappointment to smiling.

"Of course Charlie, see you at breakfast." She blew a kiss at him that he caught and pretended to eat before walking up the stairs to the dorm he shared with the other seventh year Gryffindor males.

Throwing himself on his bed and closing his eyes, falling asleep to the soft rhythm of boys getting ready for bed and the picture of a frazzled girl laughing her head off in the entrance hall.

Hm,hm,hm. Slightly shorter but still: Tell me what you are thinking.

xoxoxox


	3. Chapter 3

Ah, so yes I know that I changed the timeline a teensy bit, making the twins a tad older for the sake of the fic.

Chapter three

 _October 30th_

Fred and George Weasley were your ordinary students, sure, they were the most brilliant pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen and could make even the most prudent female- in their year of course- blush until her face would match the Gryffindor ties. Once they'd even taken a sample photo of Alicia Spinnet blushing while one of the twins was holding his tie up next to her face. However, as every other ordinary student at Hogwarts the two boys had a weakness, a very special one if you asked them.

In this very moment said weakness was walking together with her best friend a few steps in front of the boys. She was laughing and throwing her majorly shorter hair around as if it was as long as it used to be.

The twins had heard about their brothers mishap and, after making sure that there were no connections to said mishap, made his life to hell for a few days- he wasn't even safe in the bathroom as they'd plugged his dorm with some muggle fireworks that… Well, let's just say it hadn't been pretty and their brother had ended up in detention for a week.

Occasionally she would send a look behind her shoulder up towards the castle and the rest of the student body that were allowed to attend the Hogsmeade weekend (the twins were of course not officially allowed to attend, but with a stolen invisible cloak and a bit of luck they were on their way there- only to keep a certain someone safe of course). She would blush slightly and send a smile up towards whomever she was looking at before continuing her conversation with the Lennox girl.

The twins had tried to figure out who it was that she was sending those smiles to but, with the amount of students walking behind them, they hadn't been able to figure it out- only putting it down to a few options:

Option one, however fairly unlikely, was that she was sending those secret smiles to her ex-boyfriend who was walking at a distance where he would catch them between the raunchy jokes he would crack to make his friends laugh.

Option two was the Ravenclaw quidditch captain- Evan Richards. Everyone knew he'd been in love with her for years- only waiting for her to break up with the Greengrass guy to finally make his move. That one was probable, but Richards was walking hand in hand with one of Watts best friends, both of them blushing while whispering to each other.

Option three, for as much as the twins wanted to throw up as they considered it, was their older brother Charlie. He had saved her from two horrible situations and was fairly handsome, he looked quite similar to the twins after all. But he was walking in his large group of friends- not completely unlike Mark Greengrass- and had his arm around a certain Lucinda Rodriguez who made doe eyes at him while she giggled at his bad jokes.

All three of them were possible, but neither of the twins could catch any of them returning her smiles. It was enough to give the two of them a headache. Occasionally they'd considered using aging potions to make her consider them, or possibly ask her to tutor them. She did that to a few of the Gryffindor second years but every time the twins seemed to want to apply she would send them a glare.

That got them for turning her hair orange that time in first year, now they had to come up with some kind of idea to make her love them before she graduated this coming summer.

"Fred, stop stepping on my foot." George hissed before stumbling on Fred's feet making him fall and pull the cloak with him.

"Misters Weasley. Where did you get ahold of _this_?" Professor Snape picked up the invisible cloak and sent them his trademark sneer.

"Oh, you see Professor…"

Sophie was having a brilliant day, she truly loved the Hogsmeade weekends where she and Lisa would walk around the small village- gorging on Honeyduke's chocolate and sugar quills. It had always been their days, Mark had given her shit for it constantly- wanting her to be an ordinary girlfriend who spent her Hogsmeade weekends with him rather than with _that friend of hers._ She would snort at him and have a brilliant day with Lisa and then make it up to him later- on his insistence of course.

"Sooo, how does it seem like they're doing?" Lisa whispered and Sophie turned around looking at their other best friend who was walking down the path behind them hand in hand with Evan Richards.

"Ah, he just kissed her hand- and they haven't even gotten down to Madam Puddifoot's yet!" She turned her head back to Lisa's and the two girls giggled in unison.

Evan Richards had had a crush on Sophie for as long as anyone could remember, she had, unfortunately, only seen him as a good friend or a brother perhaps which and made their time together fairly uneasy from her side of things. Luckily for Sophie however her friend Claire had had a crush on him for as long as he had been in love with Sophie. A good reason to not date someone and an even better reason to play matchmaker and as it seemed it was a _very_ lucky match.

Tucking her arm into the crook of Lisa's she sighed.

"Oh I do hope the two of them finally get together, it has been so tiring watching them act like they didn't like each other at all." Lisa snorted at that.

"Ah, you mean that you're happy that he isn't trying to win you over anymore, right?" Sophie swatted her on her arm, but laughed at her friends sass before the two of them continued down the path- making plans for their day.

"Oh Charlie, you're just so handsome _and_ smart! I can't imagine how hard it must be to be in all of the advanced classes!" Lucinda was making moony eyes at him while they were walking down the path and Xander copied all of her expressions as soon as she wasn't looking making the whole group of friends laugh at her expense. "And you're not even stuck-up like those Ravenclaws, you're just…" _sigh_ "… amazing." Charlie couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at her for that comment, it was horrible being in the advanced classes. Or had at least been until he'd started to study with one of the most stuck-up Ravenclaws he knew. Sophie helped him and he tried to cheer her up, which, usually was a piece of cake. She enjoyed his Gryffindor cheek and he adored her Ravenclaw sass, it truly was beautiful.

"Yeah, yeah Lucy. Stop making his head grow larger than it already is, he'll probably fall off his broom if you do and we do hav quite an important game coming up soon." Chris Darling, an ill-fated last name to a boy that was anything but a darling. He played Beater on the Gryffindor team and was the one that usually got the most detentions for foul-play in all of Hogwarts- earning him a horrible reputation on the pitch.

"Well, at least you'll have something to hit then Darling! Don't think everyone saw you accidentally hit your own keeper last game."

"Oh shut it Xander, just because I _accidentally_ hit a bludger your way doesn't mean I was _aiming_ for you, you stupid arse."

"Ah, you can say anything you want Darling, but those red ears always tell the truth- don't they Charlie?" That opened up for more rambunctious laughter and an annoyed Darling who huffed before storming off towards Hogsmeade and Xander following him while yelling "Keeper-Killer".

Lucinda snuggled up closer to Charlie and whispered to him:

"So, we should find ourselves a closed-off booth at the Three Broomsticks, shouldn't we Charlie?"

He felt a smirk grow on his lips before nodding, laying his eyes on Sophie and her friend as Xander and Chris joined the two girls.

"Oi, Watts!" Sophie raised an eyebrow at the Gryffindor boy who was running to catch up with her and Lisa while being followed by another boy screaming something that she couldn't quite catch.

"Hmm, yeah?"

The boy caught up to them and put an arm around her shoulders:

"What's a girl like you doing going to Hogsmeade all by yourself on a lovely day like this?" She shrugged his arm off as the other boy joined them, putting his arm around Lisa who rolled her eyes at Sophie.

"As you can see I'm not going by myself but rather spending this wonderful day together with my best friend. You having any issues with that Darling?" He pulled her closer to him while still keeping an acceptable distance between them.

"Nah love, however, as the gentleman everyone knows me to be…" Xander let out a snort and Chris glared at him: "I offer myself and that rude ponce over on the lovely Lisa's other side up for your entertainment. We'll make a day of it, inter-house unity and the whole shebang. Plus, it will keep us from seeing way too much of Lucinda." Both boys shuddered at the unwanted pictures- not because the girl was un-attractive or anything but, because honestly, who would ever want to see their best friends occasional bedwarmer while she was shagging said best friend?

Sophie and Lisa shared a glance before both girls smiled up at their Gryffindor escorts.

"Ah, how could we ever turn down two shining knights as yourselves?"

Charlie Weasley loved girls. He loved the feeling of their bodies close to his, their skin underneath his fingers. The change of breath when he touched a sensitive spot on their bodies, feeling them tremble underneath him. He loved how they looked at him, how they behaved around him. But most especially- he loved how they so easily became his.

In this very moment he and Lucinda were tucked into a corner of the Three Broomsticks, hands exploring each other while their mouths were attached to each other. They had been like that since the beginning of the day, only stopping when someone walked up to ask Charlie something about the coming quidditch match or wether or not he was going to the dueling club the next week.

He knew he should feel bad about no one coming up to talk to Lucinda, that no one seemed to care one bit about where she was. However, to his defense, he was just a teenage boy- mind on other more… wordily things than about why the girl currently occupying his arms rarely spent time with anyone outside Gryffindor and more specifically: rarely spent time with anyone outside his group of friends. But alas, he was a teenage boy with a beautify girl in his arms, he wasn't going to consider those things and neither was he letting her go before he had gotten some satisfaction from their little meeting.

Standing up, Charlie tugged Lucinda outside and to the back alley behind the Three Broomsticks to get what he was looking for.

Four hours after the two Gryffindors had decided to join the two Ravenclaws the group had, finally, decided to sit down at the Three Broomsticks and enjoy a butterbeer, or, if you were one of the boys, a small firewhiskey.

"Are you actually drinking that?" Lisa scrunched her nose at the sight of the amber liquid and Chris, or Darling as they'd started to call him, laughed out loudly.

"Ah, will I ever get enough of you Ravenclaws? Of course I'll drink it. The question is, how come you two aren't drinking it?" Xander smirked at Sophie over his glass before winking at Lisa:

"Oh Darling, we're spending time with _ladies_ for the first time in you life, of course they won't drink fire whiskey like this, out in the open." Both Sophie and Lisa had started to nod along to what he was saying but froze as they heard the last part, both sending panicked glances at the other. "However, if the rumors are true of course, these two very lovely ladies have quite a reputation in both the Slytherin and the Ravenclaw common room. Am I correct ladies?" Lisa, red as a tomato just laid down on the table, bashing her head against it while mumbling something about stupid friends and their stupid ideas while Sophie met his mirthful gaze with her head held high.

"Well, we are at least a fair bit more classy than you Gryffindors. Don't you think I heard about that lovely little Rebecca and how Professor Snape found the two of you, naked, in one of the train compartments?" It was Xander's turn to fight his blush as he chugged down his whole glass of firewhiskey in one go.

"WHAT? Are you serious? I knew there was a good reason to why you didn't show up to transfiguration those first few days, Snape gave you a good old spanking didn't he?" Lisa was laughing as Darling looked as if someone had stolen his firstborn child. Xander, however, just smirked at her before replying- with a slightly prideful voice:

"Ah, was it Snape or was it little Rebecca Saunders who did just that hmm?" It was Darling's turn to start bashing his head against the table while the girls made disgusted faces at each other- sooner rather than later making the whole group laugh at their antics.

"Girls, thank you for the day. A toast perhaps? For house unity and with hopes that we will never ever see Darling get sick over too much cockroach clusters ever again." More disgusted faces and a moan from Darling led them in on more easy small-talk and companionable silences.

When Charlie came back into the premises it was with a massive grin on his face and messy hair, he quickly located his group of friends and, while getting a raised eyebrow from Xander and an annoyed eye roll from Darling he sunk down into the unoccupied seat next to Sophie, who, as soon as he sat down gave him a frown before turning back to watch Darling and Lisa argue about quidditch.

"Hey, Soph." She barely gave him a glance before turning back to the others. "Hey, Soph? What's up with you?" His voice held an edge of annoyance, he was rarely ignored. Sure, it was one thing being ignored by your parents that you shared with your other six siblings- but being ignored by someone he considered being _his_ friend really stung. She rolled her eyes at him and turned towards him:

"You reek." she smiled and shook her head at his dumbfounded expression "You smell like a back alley and cheap perfume. Plus a teensy tiny bit of sex. As if you were shagging someone in the back alley before you got in, not really a nice image if you catch my drift?" He blushed at her words - something very unusual for one of the older Weasleys, and tried to discreetly sniff himself making a bubble of laughter find its way out of her throat. "Oh lord Charlie, let's just get you a drink and spill some firewhiskey on you and you'll be fine alright."

The others, having caught on to their conversation, were now volunteering for the spilling part while ordering in more drinks for all of them, laughter spreading through the group and around the small tavern.

All was good in there, all was well.

Longer again, whatcha thinking about Darling and Xander? And how about Charlie's obliviousness to others feelings? Next chapter will be set at the dueling club, second meeting and the first week of November.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

 _26th of November_

The dueling club had started by initiative from professors McGonagall and the current DADA professor, a certain Clive Smith whom with his golden curls and broad american accent made the fifth year girls swoon just by being in his presence.

McGonagall had wanted another option rather that quidditch for the students to take points in- everyone in fourth year and upwards were able to compete in the duels taking place. Smith had decided to separate the clubs making each week of the month each of the four years able to compete separate competitions. The fourth years were only able to compete on the first thursday of the month and the seventh years on the last. This made it possible for any of the students to shine within their year group and also strengthened the relationships in-between the different years in every house.

It was a brilliant system, everyone attended every dueling club- wether if you were able to duel or not, only to support your house and bring in the house points offered. The winner of each weeks dueling club got fifty points and, if you had made for a spectacular duel, a bonus of twenty. The first runner up got thirty points and the second runner up got a measly ten.

Everyone was so immersed in the duels that the inter-house relationships started to dwell the closer they got to the finals that would be occurring in December- forever crowning the top duelists in every year until the next one.

Even the otherwise so kind and caring Hufflepuffs got rabid when sixth year Ethan Kilwing lost the final duel of the night in November to the sweet but cunning Ravenclaw Mary Thompson. Mary, in a moment of pure brilliance, had thrown Kilwing off completely by throwing her cloak at him and then disarming him while he was trying to fight the annoying piece of fabric off himself. The Hufflepuffs, with Nymphadora Tonks in the lead, had tried to overrule Mary's win but had been forced to give up as both McGonagall and Smith had told them that, even when in a small-scale school duel, one should always be prepared for the unexpected and that- quite frankly- Kilwing had tried to set her hair on fire which wasn't exactly to play by the rules.

After that incident the whole school had turned against each other. The houses refused to even speak to each other and everyone was seen as an enemy or possible victim when walking by themselves in the hallways.

As the days drew closer to se semi-finals of the seventh years dueling everyone were on their toes and when the ruling winner of the fifth year duels, a Gryffindor named Erin Goodwin, had ended up in the hospital wing for at least a month after having been the victim of a well-aimed tripping hex that had caused a fall down a few flights of stairs not even the Gryffindors ignored the feeling of tension that enclosed the castle.

Said feeling of tension had made it impossible for the, mostly, favored group of boys belonging to the Gryffindor seventh years to talk to their most favorite people outside their small group making the boys unbearably bored and said girls being able to _finally_ focus on their studies.

As for this fateful thursday said girls were spending some quality time together at breakfast over the latest issue of _Elle_ supplied to them by one of Sophie's muggle friends who had sent it to her through her mother because of the "she-isn't-allowed-any-kind-of-correspondence-that-wasn't-from-her-parents-since-it-might-disturb-her-studies"-thing she and her parents had told all of her muggle friends and family when she started at Hogwarts. Or "Scotland's most favored private school for the gifted, can't tell you it's name because of the privacy factor." as they had told everyone around them.

It made it possible for Sophie to keep her childhood friends and she loved it, all of them had decided to be doctors when they'd grown up and thus far it seemed like they would all be what they wanted. She had even introduced Mark to them one summer that he had decided to spend with her and her family. Long story short her best friend Callie had told her that he was a pig, sure, a rich pig but still a pig.

Taking a sip from her coffee Sophie read up on which kind of makeup one should wear during the winter time, it was mostly featuring winter parties making both Sophie and Lisa groan.

"I hate it when they do this kind of party-stuff you know? When are we ever going to be able to do this here, like, sure. If we were invited to the Slytherin parties I'd get it but right now? We're closed off to Ravenclaw beer nights and occasional Hufflepuff food-parties. The only thing we're going to get around here is fat, not shagged." Lisa grunted in agreement as she dotted down a few notes on how one should accentuate ones eyes during the winter time (use dark grey eyeliner instead of black, you'll look way more healthy and your skin will glow) and wether or not blush was for every skin type (yes, it is, however if you have a very pink tinged face you should try to keep to the more blue based blushes to make sure you don't end up looking like a cow).

Sophie turned the page and took a bite of the burnt toast laying on her plate. It really made her annoyed, the whole not being invited to any real parities at Hogwarts. Both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins had brilliant opportunities for parties, just a password and everyone could attend. To get into the Ravenclaw common room you needed to break a riddle and to ever even think about getting into the Hufflepuff's little den you had to pledge your loyalty to the badger painting protecting their entrance- otherwise you'd be locked out forever. Like Sophie and Lisa was. They had been invited to one party but having laughed the stupid badger straight in his face they had been declined entrance for the rest of their days, thus leaving them party-less and longing for the Christmas break and attending muggle parties.

"Do you think Callie will have another New Years party this year?" Lisa didn't look up this time either, just shrugging and continuing her notes and Sophie sighed loudly. "You know you could just chug down a cup of coffee and we'd actually have some decent conversations in the mornings?" Lisa looked up this time, sending her an eye-roll before returning to her notes.

"Uhm, Soph?" A male voice from her right caught Sophie's attention just as she was on her way to throw the rest of her toast at Lisa, turning towards it she was met by four Ravenclaw boys- one being her earlier admirer Evan Richards.

"Yes Evan?"

"So, as you might be aware this whole dueling semi-finals are tonight." He wouldn't meet her gaze which made Sophie slightly worried.

"Yes? What about them?"

"Well, since you are our most promising dueller in all of Ravenclaw me and the boys here" he flicked his thumb towards the other four boys who all belonged to the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. "thought that we could, like I don't know, but protect you for today or something? Like, we heard some of the snakes talk about shoving you into a broom closet and leave you there until tomorrow and we, uh, the house I mean, really need those seventy points you know? And you are probably the only one able to actually get them for us."

His words made Sophie's jaw drop and she stared t him, failing to grasp what he was saying and feeling a slight tinge of annoyance taking over her. Sure, it was a sweet thought, but did they actually think she wasn't able to take care of herself? She wasn't a damsel in distress and, judging by her marks, she would never be one.

"Hm. Evan. Thanks a bunch but, you know, I am able to lift my wand and send hexes at stupid Slytherins. It's not like I'm unable to hex someone outside of the dueling classroom."

Laughter coming from the Gryffindor table wasn't exactly uncommon at Hogwarts. The Weasley twins pranking endeavors and the Gryffindor first years sausage eating contests were the usual reason for such rambunctious behavior coming from the care-free lions of Gryffindor but on this morning something else had caught the eyes of the roaring students: the Ravenclaw debacle concerning one very pretty female and four fairly boorish males.

Half of the Gryffindor quidditch team was acting out the whole scene, imitating faces and coming up with what the small group was _actually_ saying to each other. Darling, acting as Sophie, was barely holding a straight face as Charlie stood, on his knees, in front of him- declaring his love and faithfulness. Xander and the second beater of the team, Nicholas Robertson, were puffing out their chests while grunting loudly after every word leaving Charlie's mouth.

"Oh sweetest Morgana, you make my eyes water just by thinking about that brain of yours- it's probably _way_ pinker and slimier than mine is. I just want you t-." Charlie got cut off half-through his, according to him at least, very entertaining speech and acting by feeling something drip down his back. Something significantly wet and slimy.

This time it was the Ravenclaws turn to laugh gleefully at the Gryffindors as Sophie, wand in hand, glared straight at the small group of actors. Even some of the professors started giggling at the faces of the four boys as they realized that they'd been drenched in their own breakfasts.

Staring at each other for a few minutes, shock and disgust on their faces, they stood up- one after one and bowed towards their laughing audience. Standing up they all sent a quick look sideways at each other and, after a few minutes of silence, yelled in unison:

"FOOD FIGHT!"

As the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs started throwing their breakfast at each other the Ravenclaws and Slytherins saw the distraction and hurried out of the hall, leaving the cleaning, and straightening up of students, to the professors.

 _That during breakfast was so unnecessary._

An origami dragon had landed on Sophie's desk during transfiguration, revealing the small note as she tapped it with her wand. She frowned at the message before scribbling a few words down on a spare piece of parchment next to her and then tapping it lightly with her wand, letting the note turn into a raven.

 _If you hadn't acted like a complete wanker it wouldn't have happened._

Charlie let out a small laugh, cloaking it as a cough when McGonagall sent him a glare from the front of the classroom, before replying and turning the raven back to a dragon as it flew through the classroom and landed in front of the annoyed brunette. She sent him an eye roll that he replied to with a bright smile as she shook her head his way at his antics.

 _You have to agree that it was quite hilarious. I mean, you are a top duellist but they still think you can't protect yourself cuz you're a girl. Bullshit if you ask me._

Being annoyed with someone because they were right wasn't something that usually laid in Sophie's nature, but this time she'd make an exemption. As she was about to write down an annoyed reply another paper dragon landed on her desk- much to her Slytherin partners annoyance.

 _Plus, we all saw you hex those boys when they were running out of the great hall. you'll have to do better than that to beat me tonight Soph._

She decided that turning a dragon into fire was not somewhat ironic and that looking back on a stupid Gryffindor smiling at her was a horrible idea.

The houses all walked in separately to the Great Hall after dinner. First came the Hufflepuffs, all decked in yellow and black with big smiles on their faces- talking and laughing together as they cheered on their duellists. Second was the Gryffindors, testosterone and quidditch chants filling the air around them as they marched down the hall to what they had taken as "their" side of the room. Third, the Slytherins, whispering and sending glances at their competition while keeping far away from the Gryffindors they stopped and glided down into their seats while watching the two professors with rapt attention. As the Ravenclaws, with all of their planning and mapped out curses, hexes and jinxes walked in both McGonagall and Smith stood up- a frown on McGonnagalls forehead as she looked over towards the rambunctious side of her house and a massive smile on Smiths as he thought of the money he had betted on the outcome of this night.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome. How ready are we for the final dueling club- the final showdown of the houses before quidditch starts up in March?" A great cheer coming mostly from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff stands followed his words. "Since this is our last time we," he pointed at professor McGonagall and himself "have decided to up the stakes a bit, making it… how should I put it? A bit more exciting for everyone involved. The winner of tonight will bring back to their house a total of one-hundred points and- if said student made the duel entertaining enough- a bonus of _fifty_ house points ladies and gentlemen!"

The Great Hall fell quiet for a second while the minds of the students handled the information that Smith just had given them, one-hundred and fifty points was as good as to win the quidditch cup. It would make the house winning the one most probable to also win the house cup. As everyone had finished processing the information cheering was heard from every corn of the room, everyone looking towards their champions of the night with hope and glee in their eyes.

"Settle down." Professor McGonagall's words made the room quiet once again and she gave them her most favorite stern look as she continued where Smith had left off. "As you all know we only have two duellists left from each and every house. Charlie Weasley and Xander Reftling from Gryffindor," cheering and chanting could be heard from the red-and-gold corner as both boys stood up and pranced up on the podium in the middle of the room "Laura Rosier and Mark Greengrass from Slytherin," the two snakes walked quietly and stood next to the lions as they smirked down at their green mass of whistles and happy shouting "Nymphadora Tonks and Nathan Holder from Hufflpuff," whooping and laughter from the Hufflepuffs as Tonks stumbled on her way up forcing Nathan to steady her before they could take their places next to the snakes "And finally, Sophie Watts and Anton Kilmeister from Ravenclaw." The bookish boy took Sophie's elbow as they walked away from the cheering and well-wishing crowd behind them to stand next to the Hufflepuffs.

"We do all wish you well. The quarter finals will go as followed: Watts and Rosier, Weasley and Tonks, Greengrass and Raftling and finally Holder and Kilmeister. Find your positions on the floor." Everyone walked towards the smaller dueling arenas and looked at their opponent. Sophie smiled slightly at Laura, when she and Mark had been dating the two girls had spent many hours together talking and laughing but judging on the face her late-friend made those moments were long forgotten. "No dark magic, no hurting someone else on purpose and most importantly of all: If your opponent has lost their wand there will be no more attacks. Am I clear?" A resounding yes from the participants and sudden quiet from the audience. "Then I call- Ready. Set. Go."

Sophie narrowly avoided Rosier's first hex, unknown to Sophie but the major dent left in the wall from it made her happy to have missed it. A quick _Impedimenta_ tailed by a stinging hex and a bat-bogey hex all in quick order made Rosier scream as her own boogers suddenly started attacking her while she couldn't stand on her one leg because of her now very swollen ankle from the stinging hex. Her screams distracted Mark who earned a babbling spell and an _Engorgio_ straight to his face, his hollering about how he really just wanted to cry about Sophie spending time with Gryffindors made everyone laugh and both Xander and Sophie quickly disarmed their opponents sending a nod to each other over the cheers from their houses.

"Rosier and Greengrass _out_. Kilmeister and Weasley _out."_ Charlie winked at Tonks who had gotten him a full body-bind as she helped him up.

"Nice work girl." She smiled at him and sent a quick look towards Watts and Reftling who were laughing together.

"You know that everyone knows that you like her right? Plus I like her, so no more flirting for you silly." She gave him back his wand, leaving him gaping until Darling hollered at him.

"C'mon over her you fucking loser! Let's just hope Xander keeps the Gryffindor flag soaring instead of being a disappointment like you!" Charlie laughed and went to sit down next to his friend while sending quick looks at Sophie and Xander as they were laughing together. Something deep inside of him tinged as Xander put his arm around her shoulders as they lined up together for the semi finals.

"Semi finals will be as following: Raftling and Tonks, Holder and Watts. Good luck now boys." Smith winked towards them before letting them walk towards the now slightly larger dueling fields. "Get ready. Set. Go."

Holder was a smarter opponent than Rosier had been. He used his brain and distraction spells leaving not much room for Sophie to navigate on. He tried a body-bind only to be hit by a tickling hex himself making him loose his wand in the tremors of his guffawing making it simple for Sophie to perform an zccio and then stand as the winner of the duel. It was surprising how simple it had been- Holder had obviously tried to come up with a strategy only to blow it on being to set in his ways and not bend his own rules. She smiled at him as she returned his wand, looking over at Tonks and Raftling where a very similar situation was happening. Tonks was laughing while holding Xander's wand in her hand as he crawled around on the floor laughing his head off.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were cheering so much that it seemed to fill the whole room as the two girls stepped up on the large dueling podium and faced each other.

"Raftling _out_ , Holder _out._ Tonks and Watts in the final. Get ready. Set. Go."

Had it been anyone but Tonks laughing manically at her while throwing dangerous hexes her way she would have been extremely scared. But now it was Tonks, a girl Sophie had watched and analysed for years upon years- knowing that Tonks's most favorite weapon was the way she would distract people Sophie just completely turned off. Watching, almost stalking Tonks while avoiding the spells she sent her ways.

 _"_ _Impedimenta!"_ A quick spin to the left to avoid the strong curse and a silent _Expulso_ to distract the other girl Sophie moved forward a few steps, almost dancing herself through the net of curses and spells Tonks were hurling at her.

A step left, avoiding a bat-bogey-hex and throwing back a _Densagueo_ that hit Tonks straight in the face- making her teeth grow rapidly. However the other girl ignored her now beaver-teeth and threw another jinx towards Sophie who had to drop to the floor to avoid it.

This continued for awhile, the crowd around them cheering and throwing in advice as the girls became more and more battered by each others curses. Sophie's cloak caught on fire burning her leg but she barely looked over her injury, just taking out the fire and sending a _Ferula_ down her leg to bandage it up- making Madam Pomfrey cheer louder than anyone else in the room for a split second.

Tonks was tired, her teeth had reached her stomach and her arm had a fairly bad burn on it as Sophie had thrown the firestarter-jinx right back at her as revenge. She really didn't want to give up, concentrating on stronger and stronger curses to throw he other girl off while hoping that Sophie would forget to put up her protego or-…

While Tonks had been focusing more and more on how to get Sophie with magic said girl had advanced forward, suddenly appearing right in front of Tonks and landed a blow straight in the other girl's face- making Tonks fall and Sophie able to grab her wand out of her hand.

The whole room cheered, or, the Ravenclaw section did while the Hufflepuff's loudly complained about her very direct way of ending the duel. Professor Smith was laughing loudly and Professor McGonagall was shaking her head, a small smile on her thin lips as she watched the two girls hug each other- laughing. Tonks was yelling about how good of a punch Watts threw and Watts was complaining about how much her leg hurt- both girls with mirth in their eyes and smiles on their faces.

"Ah, well, I don't think we have any doubt on who one that duel do we? Congratulations Miss Watts for using both magic _and_ wit in this final duel. You are hereby our ruling champion and will be rewarded with one-hundred and fifty points to Ravenclaw and a week free of homework in DADA! Have a brilliant night now everyone and take care of each other- see you next year." Smith almost bounced up on the podium hugging the girls and laughing loudly at Tonks's bloody nose.

Charlie caught Sophie's eye and, when he thought no one could see, gave her a huge grin and two thumbs up and revelled in the smile she sent him back.

Behind him Lucinda felt like she was going to die, watching the love of her life going on to the next girl.

xoxoxooxox


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

Part one

 _December 21st, day before Christmas break_

The week before the winter break was always fairly relaxed and filled with snowball fights, carols and admiring the beauty of the massive christmas trees the groundskeeper, Hagrid, brought into the castle from the depths of the Forbidden Forest.

The classes were Christmas themed- all but potions, naturally. Professor McGonagall had her students transfiguring animals to christmas ornaments and handing out small gifts to her seventh years as a "good-luck-and-happy-holidays"- thing. Professor Smith took all of his classes out on the snow-filled grounds to teach them to strategize and some _teamwork_ \- all the while planning major snowball fights and joining in himself.

These small changes from the everyday life at Hogwarts created a cheerful atmosphere surrounding the castle, even the Slytherins could be seen smiling and taking part of the activities around the castle. It was as if Christmas spanned over two weeks instead of just the one.

The seventh years were having their last Charms class, humoring Professor Flitwick by charming water into Christmas orbs by freezing and shaping it while also making it hover over their desks. It was hard work, but something the majority of the class had mastered by the middle of the class- leaving them to make small-talk in groups, or, if one was a Ravenclaw, advancing through the spells and now go on to harder shapes such as angels or centaurs that chased each other around the room as Flitwick was laughing and clapping his hands at his talented students antics.

Three Gryffindor boys and two Ravenclaw girls were sitting in a corner, discussing the upcoming Christmas break and discussing wether or not sweets were acceptable as gifts or not. Or at least three of them were discussing, the other two was concentrating on the female part of the duos spell work.

"Ah but Lisa, if I gave you chocolates for Christmas, would you actually be happy about it? Like, would you show your mother and sigh out of contentment?" Darling's voice was full of worry- he had bought the Ravenclaw girl a whole bag of chocolates and would be quite sad if she despised what he had thought would be a perfect gift.

"Well Chris, first of all I wouldn't show my mother anything. She wouldn't care either way since she is way too interested in her new husband and how he _always_ seems to find a reason for me to leave their home early. However I would show Sophie's mum when I get there on the 27th, I always save opening my gifts until then." She flipped her long hair over her shoulder and glanced at Sophie before smiling and shaking her head at her friends concentrated features. "Isn't that right Soph?" Sophie frowned and grunted something inaudible as she continued forming her small bauble of water into a tiny dragon with wings that actually moved while it kept itself floating above the group.

"Ah, I always go to Xander's place after Christmas too! We spend New Years together and then we go back to mine before Hogwarts." Looking hopefully at Lisa, Darling smiled at Xander- making a face that said "agree with me or I'll tell everyone your deepest, darkest secrets" which made Xander laugh.

"Yes, of course he does. Every year, haven't ever invited him though, mum usually just let's him sleep in the doghouse or ignores him until he disappears." Lisa snorted at his words before resting her eyes on Charlie.

"How about you Weasley? Spending Christmas with those crazy brothers of yours?" Charlie, who had been watching Sophie's efforts with a slight smile on his face, startled at Lisa's words before grinning sheepishly at the boys who laughed- earning them a glare from Sophie who now had gotten her little dragon to spit ice-fog.

"Yeah, spending it at home with the whole family. Enjoying my mum's food and just having a great time. It's been long since I saw my youngest siblings so that will be great. And this year I'll try to avoid Percy's yelling about how I should acknowledge him more in school." Charlie shuddered "It's like wanting to hang out with a slug or something." All of them laughed, even Sophie smiled slightly at his words. She had spent way too much time with said Weasley and hadn't enjoyed it the least- since she started spending time with Charlie he had however avoided her like the plague, making her days a lot easier.

Watching the little dragon now fly a few laps around the room, circling Professor Flitwick's small form- making him laugh and clap his hands in delight- before imploding on itself over Greengrass's head, drenching the annoying boy in ice-cold water, Sophie turned towards the others for the first time during the class.

"As Liss said, I'll be spending Christmas at home with my older brother and parents. Just a boring and basic Christmas. Very muggle." She winked at Dalring before continuing; "And I love sweets for gifts, but I'm afraid that neither Lisa nor I bought you guys sweets for Christmas." A small light lit in Charlie's eyes as he gave her a once-over.

"So you _did_ buy us gifts?"

"Ah of course." She grinned at the smile on his face before raising her voice so the corner of Hufflepuff's could hear her. "Got you one too Tonks, as a sorry-about-the-nose gift!" The Hufflepuff smiled brightly and gave her a thumbs up and yelled back:

"Got one for you too Watts!"

Sophie smiled at her and turned back to the group, all of them quiet until Xander shook his head:

"You break someones nose and get a friend for life whereas the rest of us accidentally give someone a cold and then aren't allowed to talk to said person eve again."

"IT WAS FUCKING PNEUMONIA RAFTLING SO SHUT YOUR FACE!"

The voice came from a certain blonde Gryffindor and the whole classroom erupted into riotous laughter- even Flitwick joined in as Xander's face took on a color quite similar to the one on his tie.

Part two

 _25th of December, the Burrow_

Celestina Warbeck's smooth voice filled each and every corner of the Burrow at this Christmas morning, just as it had filled each and every nook and cranny the years before.

Molly Weasley had been up since 4AM, preparing the Christmas breakfast for her still-snoozing family and enjoying the peace and quiet she so rarely got for herself. She couldn't wait for her two youngest to start Hogwarts so she and Arthur could have some time together just the two of them. Or that was at least what she was thinking the first hour-and-a-half before her whole body stared itching- she needed the chaos as much as she needed her babies.

Singing softly along the tunes filling her kitchen she smiled to herself as she heard her children wake up on the upper floors of their home. The small shuffling of Ginny's feet as she slipped into Charlie and Bill's room to wake Charlie up. She sipped her coffee and continued her cooking, smiling all the while.

Waking up in his own room, in his own bed and listen to Bill's snores in the morning was one of Charlie's most favorite things in the world. Having Ginny sneak into his room and climb up in his bed to wake him up with her chubby cheeks and sweet pouting was also something he loved. His siblings were his everything and he couldn't imagine a world without them.

To run down the stairs with Ginny on his back to make sure the two of them were the first ones to wish their mum a merry Christmas and then grab the best parts of the breakfast buffé she had made all morning was also something he adored. Meeting the twins in the living room when both boys _finally_ had woken up to share the morning with the others telling their youngest sibling stories about Hogwarts while waiting for the other three people in their family.

Ginny loved their stories, she usually loved hearing about how the Gryffindor boys won everything, how they conquered the school with big smiles and friendship as an exception to the evil Slytherins who only tried to hurt everyone around them. But recently the six-year-old had started to consider these long and action-packed stories with a frown on her face- where was the girls who conquered the school? Were they not allowed to play quidditch or take part in dangerous duels? Would she not be able to take part in all of that that made Hogwarts the magical place it seemed to be?

The twins, too, had shifted their focus slightly away from their usual Gryffindor exclusive stories and were now telling Ginny about the magical things that had taken part with a group of sixth year Ravenclaws and how they had transformed the whole Great Hall into a winter paradise on the last day of school- only because they felt like it. Their eyes shone as they thought back to the moment- and considered the possibilities of that kind of magical power if they got someone like that on their side. Starting to whisper in-between themselves they completely forgot to finish the story- making the six-year-old look to her second-oldest brother:

"Charliie?" He smiled at his sister and picked her up so she could sit on his lap.

"Yes Gin?" She smiled a toothy smile- showing off her just lost milk-teeth and looked at him with hope shining in her blue eyes.

"Can I be a champion when I go to Hogwarts? Even if I am a girl?" Charlie looked at her, slightly shocked by the words leaving her mouth. Had he and his brothers never told her about any of the girls at Hogwarts? Nothing about Angelina Johnson who took a chaser's position at the quidditch team i her second year? Or about Tonks and her brilliance at DADA? Or about Sophie and her fierce loyalty and healing skills, and about her ability to kick anyones ass? He smiled down at his worried little sister before clearing his voice making the twins focus at him.

"Well, I think we have a sister old enough for some stories about the _real_ heroes of Hogwarts." The twins gaped at him, looking severely confused at his words. "One of them is a good friend of mine, we actually just started talking on the first day of this year and she took a spell straight to her face…" Ginny was like a sponge, soaking up each and every word that left his lips.

Molly was smiling in the kitchen, listening to her sons telling her only daughter about the girls that conquered Hogwarts and, judging by the way her boys talked about them, a few hearts along the way.

 _"_ _Oh just shut your face Belinda, no one cares about your awful feelings!"_

 _"_ _Oh, so everyone should just adapt to whatever you want to do Jason? Are you really that fucking stupid?"_

Sophie was laying in her bed while listening to her parents' screaming from the bottom floor. It was an usual occurrence at her place, at least the screaming. What wasn't usual was Sophie's inability to get out of bed, to move or to do just about anything.

 _Back at the Burrow_

The story-telling went on until the whole family was collected in their living room, Ginny had accidentally punched Ronald straight on his nose- making him bleed profusely and the twins laugh until they weren't able to stand up as the younger girl had puffed her chest out at Ron's screaming and said, stone-faced:

"If Sophie can do stuff like that then I can too." Making everyone in the room laugh, except for their mum and Ron who was bawling his eyes out over the blood on his PJ's.

"I can't believe she actually did that! Hell, I always thought she would transform into this perfect pureblooded wife from what I could see before I graduated, but it actually seems like she let loose when she cut Greeengrass off- dontcha think Charlie?" Bill had been almost as mesmerized by the story about Sophie, mouth hanging open as the boys told him about how she had won every single one of the duels basically without using any magic at all- except for when very needed. His eyes had lit up with a kind of interest that made Charlie feel a bit weird, especially when Bill had told him that he _really_ looked forward to the graduation party.

"Oh boys, stop giving Ginny ideas and get to your presents instead- your father and I have really spent a lot of time on them so go on. Open them." Molly had sat down next to Arthur and watched their children throw themselves over their gifts with a fond smile that she shared with her husband.

The chaos that was the gift opening was something that always got worse the older the children became- at least they called out thank-you's and you-shouldn't-have's this year.

Bill had showed off by giving them small trinkets from the many markets in Egypt, the twins gave them all pranking items and, when their mum had confiscated everything, socks as a back-up present. Their parent's gave them all the usual knitted sweater and sweets while their friends gave them books (like Lisa), quidditch gear (like Xander) and massive amounts of sweets (as Darling had promised), leaving the whole family in dazed contentment.

"Oh Charlie!" Molly rushed out of her seat "I almost forgot, an owl came by and dropped off some gifts for you."

Charlie, who had been slightly put-off by the distinct lack of one very important signature on the gifts he'd gotten, looked at his mum with hope in his eyes as she bustled into the kitchen- coming back with two gifts wrapped in golden paper.

"Such a beautiful owl it was, it almost looked as if it belonged way further north than here. Must've cost a fortune." She handed Charlie the gifts and he quickly pocketed the letter laying on top of them before carefully putting them down on the floor in front of him.

One of the gifts was slightly smaller, but was a lot deeper than the other one who was large, but flat. He carefully picked the smaller one up and opened it- smiling brightly as a small dragon made of ice flew out of it roaring, but because of it's size it sounded more like a mouse than a dragon.

Everyone oh'd as it flew around the room before landing on Charlie's shoulder- making him freeze a bit before it took off again to sit down in their Christmas tree where it seemed to enjoy itself. A small note was laying on the bottom of the package:

 _Sorry if she scared you, I had way too much time on my hands before leaving school and happened to perfect the spell. I am unfortunately not capable of taking care about such a creature- but I do know you love them. Please take care of her. Sophie x_

He smiled like a fool at the paper before Bill snatched it out of his hands.

"Are you serious?! Did she actually create a small creature just by spell-work? That's fu…" The look Mrs Weasley sent him made him change his words before continuing "…antastic! She really is brilliant isn't she?" Charlie smiled and nodded with his eyes still resting on the little dragon. He turned towards the other gift and opened it only to once again beam at what it contained; _Draconology, the keeper's guide to every breed._ The book was harder to find than a Slytherin in the Gryffindor common room and to know she spent so much time on finding him a gift made him all fuzzy on the inside. On top of the book another note was nested:

 _P.S. Don't forget to name her, I've heard dragon's are way easier to control if they're named. x D.S._

"So honey, what do you think? Am I not the best father in the world?" Her father was sitting in the large armchair closest to the fire, looking smug and sending glares at his wife whenever she would make a sound. Glares that she happily sent back. "It's just by that wizarding street, whatever it's called. Diagram Alley was it?"

Sophie barely registered what he was saying, the gift showering and practiced lines was things she was very used to. Almost as used to as being alone with her parents for Christmas, missing her older brother constantly. He had, as usual, ditched the family to spend the holidays with his girlfriend and her family- for the better probably.

Sophie's older brother Graham wasn't magical at all- just like their parents. The only thing was that their parents loved to be _special_ , to feel special and mostly to know that they were more special than anyone else at their country club. That was why they adored Sophie and barely looked in Graham's direction. The poor boy had finished his law-degree at Cambridge University with shining marks- but still he wasn't _special_ enough for the Watts family. It had gone so far that Graham and Sophie met up to exchange gifts as far away from their parents as possible, spending a day together on the busy streets of London while carefully talking about each others lives.

Graham had been happy to hear about Sophie's new friends, he never really liked that Mark fellow- no matter how much easier the boy would have made his sister's life when applying for the healer-program. Of course he hadn't told his sister about this when he got her first letter of the year- but he certainly hoped these new boys would make her life a lot easier than before.

Sophie smiled up at her father's face:

"Thank you dad, and you mum. You must both have been planning this for ages." A quick kiss on each of their astounded cheeks and then she quickly ran up to her room where the rest of her presents laid, neatly, in a row on her bed.

She had opened them earlier and sent off the gifts for her friends afterwards. She had always done it that way- making sure she didn't go overboard or making someone uncomfortable with what she gave them. When opening Charlie's gift she had, for possibly the first time ever, felt so seriously inadequate as anyone had ever felt.

He had, instead of sending her something materialistic, sent her and Lisa an invitation to stay at his place for the last week of the break- together with Xander and Darling of course. Apparently his mother had been threatening him about not getting to meet the "brilliant friends of his" that had made sure he actually passed all of his classes this year. Sophie had sent him a resounding "yes" before telling Lisa to go straight to The Burrow instead of stopping by at Sophie's home. It made for an amazing Christmas break and Sophie couldn't have been happier.

xxxx /Silvertoris


	6. Chapter 6

Part Three

 _December 26th, Sophie's home_

Knowing that she would spend the rest of her Christmas break with the Weasley's made Sophie lower her guard to the point that when a familiar owl dropped off a gift for her she didn't immediately set it on fire or deliver it back to the person- or rather the boy who'd sent it to her. No, instead of her usually rash behavior she sat down, contemplating the beautiful owl as it cooed and started clean it's feathers.

Just a year ago the look of this mesmerizing bird had been something she was quite used to, and the feelings connected to the sight of it had all been warm and safe. The bird had been connected to a person she had only ever felt safe together with. Now, however, her eyes teared up and a cold feeling clenched her as she took the package and put it down in her lap. Slowly stroking the velvet case she opened it, gasping when she saw what was enclosed. A giant diamond attached to a golden chain, a gift that most of the old Pureblooded families would consider and engagement gift. Something that would make it obvious that the female wearing the necklace belonged to the family and no other male would be allowed to touch her. Picking the necklace up a small note detached itself from the box and landed in front of her, holding the necklace in one hand she picked up the note and read it, the cold feeling more intense than before.

" _I am sorry. Please come by for a visit and let me explain._

 _Yours, always,_

 _Mark"_

A harsh intake of air, before a desperate moan left her. Dropping the note and leaning backwards she closed her eyes, mind suddenly clear as she lost herself in memories and what-could-have-beens.

Charlie thought that this Christmas would be the best that he'd ever experience.

Xander and Darling arrived on the 28th and had, by dinner, charmed their way into a permanent place in his mothers heart. She fussed more over her "new sons" than he even fussed over Bill and Charlie together- making all of the boys laugh at the two newcomers slightly awkward faces as they tried to fend off her attentions.

"No Mrs Weasley, I've already had four servings of dinner." and "Please Mrs Weasley, it's just a bit of quidditch, all of your sons are playing aren't they?" were now usual things to hear around the house as Charlie's mother tried to mother the two otherwise so self-sufficient boys.

"But Christopher, you are not fit enough for flying yet. I can still see those collar-bones of yours. And you Xander, wan't it you whom I heard coughing earlier this morning?" Her usual reply as she filled Darlings plate with more stew and Xanders cup with tea. "None of you should be going outside until you have gotten a bit more healthier- and how on earth does neither one of you own a pair of proper woolen socks? You will freeze your feet off." The Weasley children were laughing loudly at her comments and at the faces of their new friends making their mother send them out while continuing to coo at the two boys.

"And if either of you need a hot shower it's fine to use both Bill and Charlie's shampoo, those two don't use it enough anyways."

"MUM"

Lisa arrived on the 29th, a worried look on her face and with a heavy heart. A small note written in the most impeccable script she'd ever seen was burning a hole through her pocket as she was met by the boys on the border of The Burrow.

"And where's my favorite girl next to Ginny?" Darlings broad smile faltered as he saw tears form in Lisa's otherwise so clear eyes and slightly quivering lips. "Uh, wait. Sorry Liss, I meant favorite girl next to you and, uh, Ginny, not like you aren't my favorite favorite but like uh…" She glared at him.

"You are such a bloody idiot Chris." Turning towards the other two she sent them a watery smile "As for Sophie, I, well." she took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't know, she'll be here tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Depending on her parents of course." She met Xander's narrowed gaze before looking at Charlie's broad smile.

"Ah, that's okay, I know she's pretty busy anyways. We'll just have to have a blast until she comes around eh?" Charlie grabbed her bag and started to lead the way towards the slightly crooked house further down the slope they were standing in. "Mum has been excited about meeting you both- she hasn't been talking to that many Ravenclaws in her days but yeah, she's excited about you guys."

Lisa smiled and put her hand in her pocket, clenching the many times folded and unfolded note laying there.

 _Am going to Mark's place for a while. Might come to Charlie's. Cover for me please._

 _Love you,_

 _Sophie._

 _Greengrass mansion, 29th of December_

Sophie hadn't known what to expect as she walked down the aisle leading towards the beautiful mansion. Bordered by fir trees and ice sculptures of beautiful maidens that would transform themselves into monsters as you walked past them the Greengrass family made sure to make an impact on each and every person visiting the mansion. Or rather the Greengrass matriarch, Mark's mother, knew how to make each and every wizard walking through the Greengrass gates quiver in his boots by the time he had made it to the entrance of the beautiful manor.

Sophie, however, was used to the display of power, the almost forced threatening techniques. Usually Lady Greengrass would have used something far more discreet than transforming sculptures- one year she had actually trained Thestrals to walk together with the visitors, scaring most as even if they couldn't actually _see_ them, they felt their presence. The ones who could see them tried to stay as far away from the manor as possible, opting to schedule meetings with the powerful family anywhere but in their mansion.

The necklace Mark had sent her was heavy in her robe pocket, making her otherwise so brisk pace slow and thoughtful as she watched the transformation of the sculptures- wondering if they were there to send her a message, or if Lady Greengrass had been too busy to actually think of anything less obviously threatening.

She had been choosing between a muggle dress and her robes for a few hours before leaving, not sure if she wanted to show off her heritage or prove that she belonged there with them, in the long halls of the manor and with the beauty of magic in her blood. Opting for the last she was now dressed in a pair of deep blue velvet robes her mother had almost forced on her the day after Christmas. It had made her mother feel superior to her father- which made for a new major argument. One that lasted until Sophie left the house.

The entrance of the Greengrass manor was intricate, great wooden doors ornamented with different scenes from the Greengrass family history; the day the first matriarch took the power, the marriage between a Greengrass and the grandson of Merlin. The war between England and France- a war that several witches and wizards joined to make sure the outcome would be secure to England. Around them ivy tightly clung to the dreary gray rocks that made up for the rest of the entrance, making one humble as they stood in front the doors- obviously feeling watched as they waited for they call to answered.

"Mistress Sophie! So nice seeing you again!" A small elf wearing a bright green pillowcase met Sophie in the doorway, smiling as if she was the best thing to ever happen. "The Mistress and young master is in the study, Trinket will show you there." Sophie nodded while handing her coat to the two other elves waiting for it, they bowed deeply as they took it and walked slowly backwards until they disappeared into one of the hidden doors leading to the coat room. Turning towards the happily bouncing elf again she smiled.

"Thank you Trinket. Please, lead the way." The elf bounced ahead as Sophie gracefully tripped behind, eyes on the beautiful paintings and portraits along the walls. She had always loved watching them interact with each other- portraits and paintings living in a kind of magical symbiosis, making sure that neither of them ever got tired of staying on a wall for the rest of their life. It had been a great worry to hear the first time she saw a magical painting- something that had made all of her Pureblood friends laugh an tease her for. Mark had, however, been the only one taking her seriously and every time they were at the manor they would talk to the portraits- to make sure that they were okay and not tired of being where they were.

Passing by one of the large ballrooms Sophie smiled as she glimpsed Daphne and Astoria twirl around to a soft tune. Both younger girls had adored her just as much as she adored them during the years that she and Mark had been a couple and she had missed them greatly when he had broken up with her. The girls smiled and waved at her before a grumpy voice yelled _"Continue!"_ and they took up their twirling- now letting Astoria lead the two.

The classical music flowing through the ballroom followed Sophie and the elf as they continued their journey down the long halls of the manor, each step taking them further away from the lightness and into the dark parts of the manor.

I suck, sorry, short thing too. Will try to be better. xoxo


	7. Chapter 7

Part four- Final instillation

 _Greengrass manor, 29th of December_

Mark was gazing through the large window behind the desk in his mother's office, she was sitting in front of the large fireplace- lightly stirring her cup of tea when Sophie arrived. The light coming out of the window made Mark look as ethereal as he and been for her once, unbeatable and brave. He had been a divinity, gracing her world with his presence. But that was once upon a time, a dream that now was lost. Turning around, with the light of the window as a halo, Mark noticed her and smiled softly, eyes with deep and dark circles around them and cheeks hollowed. It seemed as if he hadn't slept for weeks and that food had been scarce.

"Sophie." His voice was hoarse and deep, the sound of it made her shiver as it brought back memories of dark nights and early mornings.

Lady Greengrass turned from her seat and smiled softly at Sophie.

"Dear, don't stand in the doorway. You have always been and will always be welcome here." The lightness of her voice was surprising, before she and Mark had ended things the Lady of the manor had been quite cold, she'd never truly accepted Sophie for what she was. Not pure enough as she had whispered to other Purebloods such as the Malfoys or Parkinsons. But now the Lady marking that she had a place at the manor was proof of her acceptance of the young muggleborn witch.

Sophie stepped into the study and, after indication from Lady Greengrass, sat down next to her with Mark still leaning against the windowsill- eyes on every move she made.

"I'm pleased with your arrival. We have some very interesting news that we consider it important for us to divulge." The Lady smiled as Mark nodded, eyes hooded. "You must be aware of a certain wizard and his, well, rather _wavering_ views on the wizarding world and the people whom should and should not be accepted into said world." Sophie felt herself stiffen, eyes narrowing as she looked from the Lady to Mark, brain working swiftly.

"Yes m'am, I am quite aware of said wizard and his views on me and others similar to me." The Lady smiled, a smirk hidden beneath red lips and withe teeth.

"Oh, I always knew you were a lot smarter than others thought." Another smile before her face sobered, a serious gleam in her eyes. "As you must know our family have been categorized as one of the few who kept themselves rather neutral in this last war. However now we have been feeling the affects of having our acquaintances involved in the wizards business and this shines a very dark light on our name." Sophie shuddered as she thought of exactly what the acquaintances to the family had done to _still_ suffer from the consequences of their actions. The Malfoy family, said to be the right hand of the late dark wizard, had gotten away with a slap on their figurative wrist. "Unfortunately this affects you too sweetling." Startled Sophie gaped at the woman in front of her who had returned to sip from the delicate cup in front of her.

"What do you mean?" Sophie's voice was quiet, a whisper in the empty space in-between the people in the room.

"Have you gotten any new friends lately? Any that you wouldn't have had if you still had the protection of our name? Acting as if it's the most natural thing to spend time with you, even if they, just a few months ago, would have screamed despicable things your way?" Sophie's hands startled trembling as she thought of the months that had passed since Mark had let her go on the train, his halo no longer embracing her in it's light.

Charlie, Darling, Xander. And the rest of the Gryffindors she and Lisa had been spending time with. The ones who had been yelling insults at them only to quickly change and embracing them. Inviting her to one of their homes. _As if no bad blood had ever run in-between them._

"Yes m'am. There has been a few people like that."

The Lady nodded, a pitying smile adorning her lips:

"I am so sorry darling. It's all our fault. I asked Mark to remove you from the manor for a while." She sent a dark glare at her son who looked down with a noticeable red tint to his face. "Which, as he and I have been discussing, does not mean to remove you completely from our lives." Another glare. "And by doing that he drove you right into the arms of people sacrificing anything for information." Another sad smile. "I know I can't mend any bridges between you and Mark, no, he has quite a bit of groveling to do before you should forgive him. But I do not want to see such a brilliant girl as yourself to be used by a movement who would sacrifice you for nothing." The Lady took another sip, eyes on Sophie's trembling hands and pained face as she did so. "It is a lot of information dear, but please listen to what I have to say. What Mark will have to say." A nod from Sophie was all she needed to rise and exit the room, but not before bending down and give the young girl a soft kiss on her cheek.

Mark sighed as he watched the girl in front of him. The love of his life. Her hair slightly longer and eyes more tired than before she was the epitome of beauty and all he had ever wished for to be his. Years of admiring her from afar and asking her questions about homework in the classes they shared had measured up to him finally daring to ask her out on a fateful evening in they fourth year and since then she had been his. In body, in mind and in heart. They had been an entity and she had been the essence of what he lived for.

It had, of course been ruined. Like all other things he and his Slytherin friends had ever enjoyed. Politics, honor and heritage was everything and when one of those three seemed to be threatened the threat had to be removed. When the Malfoys had spread the rumors bout the Dark Lord returning he and his family had panicked, his mother sending him off to protect Sophie but, in leaving him with how he should do it, made him only put her into more danger than before.

"Sophie." The girl shook her head, bent forward, face hidden by her dark locks. "Please love, look at me." She shook her head again, small sniffles being heard. He went towards the sofa, sitting down next to her and listened to her heavy breathing. He was tired. So tired of acting and purposefully hurting her so she would maybe survive the world of which he had forced her into.

"I-I thought you hated me. For real. All that screaming, and the dueling on the train. And in the club. I really thought you despised me." The words cut through him, leaving his heart bleeding.

"I didn't want to force you into something you couldn't stand for. I didn't want to force you into a world where we have to spy and attack others for us to survive. I couldn't do that to you."

"And then I ended up in the same situation but on the other side of the spectra."

He sighed deeply, tired of the charade he'd been playing since the beginning of the summer.

"They do not actually trust you, his parents will ask you about everything our family have been doing since day one. They will ask you about how poorly we've treated you and send in Aurors to "randomly" search our home to prove that we are actually a dark family. They will do anything to get the information out of you, anything to hurt you and us. You will be a victim until they don't need you anymore. Don't you remember Lucinda? That Gryffindor the eldest Rosier dated until he had to break up with her only to turn her into the oldest Weasley's whore? The girl that the younger one is shagging every now and then in the corridors? She was left empty-handed, a leftover that- when she couldn't give them any more information from the Rosier household she was thrown into the street. The Rosiers can still not have anyone over since they're supposed "Dark Wizards". She was sacrificed for that Gryffindor bunch. As you will be love." He had started to slowly stroke her back as she, instead of crying, had tensed up. Her brilliant brain moving faster than ever before, adding all the bits and turns of her conversations with the Gryffindor bunch.

"But they've barely talked about you, a few mentions here and there but never tried to pry."

"I don't know love. All I know is that we have to protect what we love nowadays, it seems like everything we do is monitored and that everything we've ever loved is being punished. Rosier warned us to make sure that you are okay since it seems like Lucinda is spiraling into darkness quicker than anyone can ever stop her. I'd rather have the Dark Lord kill me than to have you hurt by anyone." His voice was soft, as she had remembered it. Not the harsh tone that he'd kept in their interactions the past few months. Just the sweet voiced he'd always made private for her. It was her voice.

And she couldn't do anything but fall for it, fall for him and his protectiveness all over again.

Turning her face up towards his he smiled and stroked her still wet cheek. Their eyes met and Sophie was lost, lost in the world that had been hers for so long and now had proven to be hers forever.

So two super short chapters, but they're here to take us through their school-days and move on to the real plot. THE ONE WHO IS VERY PLANNED OUT AND WILL BE AMAZING! Please leave reviews and tell me all about what you think of this last twist. Lots of love.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter six

 _9th of January_

The Hogwarts Express was oddly quiet as it moved along the white hills and valleys of Scotland. The students huddling together in their compartments, whispering while keeping an eye on the glass doors leading out into the corridors, the only thing separating them from the other houses and year groups. The fright and terrified whispers echoed through the carriages, with a few exceptions letting through rage and mirth. Of course on opposites sides of the long train.

It wasn't tears, nor pain, that affected the students of the Hogwarts Express in such a way. No, it was the cold whispers of an era long forgotten resurrecting in the midst of their own that terrified them. The whispers of a Lord defeated by a small boy echoing in to their time.

Lisa had never been a stupid girl, she was a Ravenclaw after all, but what many forgot was that everyone on her mothers side of the family had belonged to the cunning house of Slytherin. On her first day of school she had noticed the pretty muggleborn placed into her house, she had noticed the looks from the older boys as the small form of her current best friend had skipped towards the Ravenclaw table and plopped down next to her. She had expected many a questions of the kind her parents had prepared her for ("Have you always _known_ that you were a witch?" and "But, how can you not tell everyone in the real world about this?.) but the girl next to her had surpassed every expectation she had ever had. Instead of the stupid questions Sophie had merely smirked at her before leaning into her to whisper:

"So, which one of the Slytherin boys should we befriend to make sure to become the ones ruling this place?" Lisa felt her heart beating faster at the other girls words, a bright smile on her face and mind already formulating a letter to her mother, asking for her approval of her new best friend.

The years had passed but the two girls had always been inseparable, so when Sophie hadn't shown up to the Weasleys Lisa knew that there was something brewing in the darker places of her friends mind. And when her mother had sent for her the day after she had arrived to the Weasleys she knew that that something had already happened and that her mother was pleased.

Which was how she had ended up sitting in the Slytherin carriage on her way back to her last semester at Hogwarts, enjoying the laughter and mirth embracing her from the boys she had spent time with since she'd been a small girl. And of course, watching her best friend shine out of happiness with the love of her life and a thick diamond necklace adorning her neck.

Charlie was furious. He had been glaring at each and every person that dared to even look in his direction since they boarded the Hogwarts Express. Only Darling and Xander dared to be close to him, and Lucinda of course. However he was sure that the girl in the group actually had suffered through some kind of spell-damage, especially since she had trouble understanding Darling's jokes.

Charlie glared at the girl again as she couldn't keep up with a simple 'ask the dragon' joke, her eyelids droopy and face gaunt. He should probably have reacted more, he would have reacted at her appearance, if it wasn't for his mind being busy with trying to understand the scene he had watched earlier. The one where the girl with a broken heart had returned to the bastard who broke it. Also, that when he had tried to talk to said girl she had barely deigned him with a look only continuing to walk past him in stilettos and a thick diamond necklace around her delicate neck. He had been possibly fuming at her disregard of him. What had been worse had been how Greengrass had looked back at him, smirking before returning his attention to the beauty next to him.

Even Lisa had completely ignored them, walking hand in hand with Alec Rosier, the twin brother of the girl Sophie had finished during the dueling club.

It all made him want to scream, he had actually enjoyed spending time with the girls. Enjoyed having them near, their laughter and Sophie's sharp wit. He missed it and going back to spending time with Lucinda felt like he had been degraded to trash.

Fillerrrrrrrrr xoxoxo


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Seven

 _14th of February, Valentines day_

Fred and George had been planning for this day since they had turned Sophie Watts hair orange in their first year, the day when she would be falling in love with them, turning her whole life around just to be with two ginger boys. But, as they had watched the drama from the past month concerning their brothers feelings towards the girl, they had realized that their plans must change so they could be with her. Now, watching as their older brother glared towards the Ravenclaw table where said girl was sitting, surrounded by red roses and gifts, they knew they'd had to do something _magnificent._

Charlie felt like his insides were twisting, like they had been replaced with snakes biting him rather than his usual pink and fluffy organs. He sent another glare towards Sophie as she opened another one of the gifts spread all over her seat and laughed with Lisa as she showed her a pair of knickers and they both laughed loudly as a third year boy from Hufflepuffs ears got a shade of red darker than anyone had ever seen. Charlie knew that every Valentines day side their second year had been like this, he had even been one of the people laughing together with the girls and shaming the boys who had sent them raunchy gifts. But this year it was different, mostly because he had heard whispers of what Grengrasses gift to Sophie would be. Something a lot more serious than a necklace or a pair of red and silky knickers.

"Stop staring Charlie, it'll just feel worse." Xanders soft voice barely made the other boy react. Xander just shook his head, throwing a glance at the two girls as Lisa showed Sophie, and in extension all of the Great Hall, a bra that probably showed off more skin than it hid.

He, just as Charlie and Darling, had been confused over the girls sudden disinterest in them. But rather than being filled with the Gryffindor rage he had used his very logical mind to figure out why they would turn their coats so quickly. And it wasn't like it had been hard to figure out either. The whispers of a dark circle returning to it's power had embraced the Wizarding world and all of the sacred 28 who hadn't been in touch with the earlier reforms had been raided. Which, of course, the majority of them could take without a bat of their lashes. However some of the families, such as the Greengrasses, needed a fair bit more protection to be able to survive the scare of a Dark Lord rising.

The gifts surrounding them, the attention, the power she could feel flowing through her veins was mesmerizing. Her best friend by her side, everyones eyes on them as they shuffled through the great pile of gifts in front of them. Smelling the roses, noticing the jealous glances from females wishing they were them and from the boys, wishing that it was their gift that she would put aside for opening later. Or, as she laid eyes on a small box made in wood, put it quickly in her pocket- making sure no one saw her as Lisa held up another piece of lingerie from a random boy with red ears. It was their favorite day of the year, Valentines day, the day when they allowed themselves to celebrate. It had become hers and Liss day from the beginning, when they got a rose from each and every boy in their year and now- a rose or gift from the majority of the boys in the school- each raunchier than the other. Still, there was a few gifts they always saved, the ones from the boys they considered friends. (Almost all Pureblooded which meant that their gifts were in the more _exotic_ genre rather than the more generic.)

"Sophie, look at _this_." Lisa held up a box filled with handcuffs, a pair of stilettos and a whip made out of velvet. "I do think it's for you and Mark, we all know how much he likes a _dominating_ female." Her voice was venomous, the two hadn't still gotten over their Christmas break and how Lisa's mother had been the first to be privy over Sophies relationship status.

"Or it could be for you, I mean" Sophie lowered her voice "I have heard that Alec likes it a bit rough." Lisa coughed, face turning a shade of dark pink as she playfully glared at her best friend.

"Maybe we should just share, yes?"

Professor Smith loved Valentines day, just as he had prepared a magnificent before-Christmas-break- class he had prepared something special for Valentines day. There were drawings and pictures of different mythical creatures plastered all over the walls in his classroom and as his seventh year advanced class filled into the room he beamed at them, more excited than ever.

"Welcome on this beautiful day!" His two favorites, Sophie Watts and her friend Lisa Lennox beamed back at him as they sat down right in front of him. Both girls had a healthy pink tinge to their cheeks and their bags were filled with gifts. "Ah, the ordinary spectacle for the two of you today?" The girls giggled and Watts winked at him.

"Oh yes Professor, however were as always waiting for our most dreamy Professor to give us the time of our lives." Smith couldn't help himself but laughed at her sass before leaning down underneath his desk and threw the two girls each a piece of paper.

"Not a whisper okay girlies?" Both of them mimicked locking their mouths with a key and throwing it away and he smiled at them. It was lovely having them in his class. His eyes turned towards the door and smiled at the group of Slytherins walking in, Mark Grengrass, Alec Rosier and John Fawley strode in as if they owned the school and everything in it. They nodded at him, disdain in their eyes and Smith would probably have been deeply offended and hateful towards the boys, just like the other Professors, if it hadn't been for the way their eyes changed when they saw the two girls sitting in front of him. The protectiveness in their eyes was enough for him to give the boys a break, at least with him.

With the same stance as the Slytherin boys, however a lot more rambunctious and with major grins on their faces as they greeted him the Gryffindors entered. Three boys and one girl made up the whole Gryffindor enclave in his class. Charlie Weasley and Xander Raftling glared as they noticed the Slytherins and then, when the Weasley boy laid eyes on the couple of Ravenclaw girls Smith loved so much his whole demeanor turned into a dark hole. As the rest of the class walked in to the classroom Smith just decided to go one with it, ignoring the change that his class had undergone during the past two months.

Sophie and Lisa loved going to DADA. Professor Smith, the golden haired australian flirted with them, they both excelled and every holiday they had an amazing theme. Such as this Valentines day where the Professor led a discussion about Sirens, Undines and Mermaids for the class to enjoy.

"…and even if the Undine has a lot in common with creatures such as mermaids they are actually the only one, according to Greek mythology and to the latest report from Ministry, who can breed with humans and become, over time, a human being. Whereas Sirens and Mermaids are creatures who kill men and drink their soul for survival… Yes Mr Weasley?"

"So, the ones we have here at Hogwarts could probably kill us all?"

"Ah, no. It's a different group of magical creatures completely. The Merpeople have their own language, a culture, whereas Mermaids and Sirens merely are illusions of the male mind who pull them in until they can drink their soul. Not completely unlike Dementors no, Miss Watts."

"Or unlike you." The last was added a bit too loudly by Charlie Weasley, an arrogant smile on his face. The Slytherin boys stood up, wands in hand as Sophie spun around on her chair.

"Oh really Weasley? Thought you were all too good to say anything rude about a female. Knight in shining armor, wasn't it?" The disdain in her voice just fueled Charlie's rage.

"To any woman worthy of course, not to a disgusting, worthless Slytherin whore." He felt his heart sink as the words left his mouth as quickly as he saw the sparkle in Sophie's eyes disappearing.

"Mr Weasley! 50 points from Gryffindor and a months detention with me!" Professor Smiths voice was hard, not his usual humorous one, but what scared Charlie the most was the reaction he had coaxed out of Greengrass. They boy was kneeling next to Sophie, whispering to her as she nodded at what he said. The two other boys were standing wands in hand as a protective wall in front of them. Charlie barely noticed Lisa yelling profanities at him and Professor Smith trying to calm the situation down, all he could see was Greegrass showing Sophie a small jewelry box, just large enough for a ring.

Mark had led her out of the classroom, still dazed from Charlies comments and the small box Mark had shown her. Hand in hand he started leading her up the stairs towards the Astronomy tower. His hand was strong, but had always held hers delicately. Just as he had always been harsh,but delicate towards her. Ignoring the past few months of course.

As they arrived to the top she breathed in deeply, enjoying the cold and moist air and the scenery of a Scottish February.

"Sophie." She turned towards Mark who watched her, deep blue eyes meeting her brown ones. "I had hoped for this moment to be more special, I mean, I had this amazing thing planned out for tonight but with what happened earlier I think this is a way better moment for it." He picked up the box from his pocket and sunk down on one knee. "I know that I have been a complete bastard this past year and I know that no excuse can ever make it better. What I did was unacceptable, but for what it matters all I wanted was to protect you from the world I live in. Protect you from what will come. But I realized that you don't need my protection, you don't need me to overrule your decisions and opinions. What you need is a supporter, someone who will always have your back. Someone who will always be yours. And that is what I am offering you now. Sophie Watts, the love of my life. Our love is infinite, please let me honor you by making us infinite." He opened the box, revealing the ring his mother had been given by his father, a large diamond ring surrounded by small emeralds. And as Sophie looked into his eyes and nodded he rose to put the ring on her finger. Realizing that this was just the beginning of what his mother expected of him.

Ah, procrastination.


End file.
